Opinion: If APS wants to regain public trust, it will require a sustained effort to move Arizona toward affordable clean-energy sources.

In just a few months, Arizona’s largest utility company went from an all-out attack on proposed renewable energy mandates to a multiyear investment in its solar footprint.

Arizona Public Service announced its plans Thursday to store up to 850 megawatts in solar batteries by 2025 – enough to power about 212,500 homes for three to four hours. The huge batteries allow the company to store solar energy during the day when the sun shines and discharge it in the evening when customers need it most.

What changed since the nasty fight against renewable energy mandates?

Nothing, really. Just a natural evolution of energy markets in the Southwest, company officials said. In other words, prices for large batteries are falling so low that APS couldn’t resist.

APS's solar fight eroded public trust

That’s the simplistic explanation but also the most credible from a company that just like any other private enterprise aims to maximize profits for its shareholders.

But I also think the company doesn't want another showdown with clean energy proponents. Don't forget that APS last year helped kill Proposition 127, which would have required 50 percent of its power to come from renewable sources like solar and wind by 2030. But the campaign cost the company nearly $38 million, and it further eroded public trust of the utility.

The company currently gets roughly 14 percent of its power supply from renewable sources, according to Republic utilities reporter Ryan Randazzo. It’s required to be at 15 percent or higher by 2025.

It wasn’t immediately clear how close the building-size batteries will move APS toward the goal that would have been mandated under Prop. 127. Still, adding batteries to store 850 megawatts is a significant step in the right direction.

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APS doesn’t really have a choice. The country’s attitudes and energy markets are moving away from dirty energy like coal. Still, company officials are smart to start taking advantage of cheaper technology to capture solar energy.

Expanding the company’s solar footprint is a game-changer because it allows a lot more of APS customers to add solar panels to their rooftops – and, more importantly, for the energy to be stored and more efficiently used.

But how is the company recuperating the hundreds of millions of dollars it is investing? Officials wouldn’t speculate on future rate hikes, but everyone knows that the costs of investments are almost always passed on to customers.

I’ve previously written that Arizonans will almost certainly pay more for electricity, no matter what, and that I’d rather spend the extra money on cleaner energy. I remain steadfast on that. But I also know that many Arizonans are fed up with APS' political behavior – with their entanglements on rooftop solar and Prop. 127 – and would revolt against unreasonable rate hikes.

Regaining the public's trust will take a lot more than expanding the solar footprint, but this is a good start.